


The Year of Dares

by Gabriel_Sage



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dare War, M/M, Marauders' Era, Pranks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 07:11:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8569084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gabriel_Sage/pseuds/Gabriel_Sage
Summary: Severus Snape and Sirius Black were arguing again, and this time, it was about cowardice. Unable to resolve who was the greater coward, the two of them agreed to initiate a dare war, and the first one to cave was the coward.





	1. Listing the Grievances

     Severus considered his Defense homework. It wouldn't be too harrowing a task to compile twenty-six methods to avoid being defeated in a duel. He had departed from the classroom a few minutes later than everyone else, as he had no desire to be caught in the post-class pre-supper crush. Besides, since it was mealtime, it was unlikely he'd run into Potter and his cronies, the gluttonous pigs they were. Particularly Pettigrew. And given that no one else was usually late to meals in general, he could walk in relative peace. 

 _Back to homework_ , Severus rebuked himself, and reorganized his thoughts back towards the assignment at hand. So, he could avoid getting into such a duel in the first place, for starters. One couldn't lose a duel they had never partaken in, after all. If that failed, he could cast the appropriate shield charm given whatever the circumstances necessitated. He could cast an _impedimenta_ on his opponent before he completed the incantation. He could transfigure the air molecules above the competitor's head into bricks. He could transfigure the _person_ into bricks...

     Of course, there was a reason one didn't write and walk at the same time, and that being you couldn't anticipate moving obstacles. That said, at that exact moment, Severus walked smack into someone and his things went flying in nearly all directions. Jumping up, Severus reflexively cast a silent _accio_ , borne from this very incident having transpired with frightening regularity before. It most certainly wasn't the first time, nor would it be the last. One would have thought that five and a half years of being both verbally and magically cursed in retaliation, as well as the consequences of not paying proper attention to his surroundings last year after the O.W.L.s would have taught him to bite the habit, but it hadn't faded by a long shot. If anything, it had only worsened as no one was there to notify him of upcoming dangers anymore. Preparing to leave, he frowned as he realized that his homework wasn't there. Finally, he looked up at his suspiciously silent living obstacle, and found none other than Sirius Black smirking, tapping a very familiar roll of parchment against  his palm.

      "Give it back, Black," Severus hissed. Not that he really expected him to comply. And as if he had wanted to prove himself consistent to prior behavioral patterns, Black shook his head.

      "Nope. What is this you were writing? A letter? Is it to your girlfriend? Oh wait, you're too ugly; no female in their right mind would want to be seen around you other than your mother!"

     "Give it back!" Severus lunged for it, and Black dodged, and unfurled it.

     "Let's see–hey, it's homework! One, don't get into the fight in the first place. How's that coming along? It seems like you're a hypocrite _and_ a coward!"

     "I'm not a coward!" Severus swiped at his homework, but Black danced out of his reach, holding it out above both of their heads.

     "Number two, if you fail in the first task, cast appropriate shield charms relevant to the circumstances you find yourself in." Black made a disgusted noise in his throat and eyed him appraisingly. Severus glared at him and crossed his arms defensively. "You can have it back. It's a complete waste of parchment; I can't use it." Severus threw up his arms in a mockery of shock. 

     "Oh, all hail Lord Black!" He sneered scathingly. "If he is too idiotically imbecilic to recognize the potential benefits of an object, it must be worthless!" Black's eyes narrowed, and he leaned towards him.

     "I'm not as cowardly as you, so it wouldn't come across as my work." Black hissed, balling it up and throwing it at him. Severus summoned it to himself and straightened it out with a spell. He immediately began checking for smears (there weren't any), so he didn't see Black lunge at him, and was therefore only privy to the resolution. It seemed to him that Black had suddenly materialized ten feet from his origin, grabbed him by the lapels of his robes, swung him around, and slammed him up against the wall. Severus stiffened, and Black sneered into his face. Two months ago, Severus would have been looking up; but Hogwarts fare had _finally_ kickstarted his delayed growth spurt this go around, and he was as tall as Black now, but a great deal thinner. 

     "See? You're scared, even now! You are a coward!" Black shouted in his face, and Severus shrank down, wincing as spittle flew into his face. Black sneered once more before letting go, and Severus immediately wiped his face with disgust. He once again summoned his things and began walking toward the Great Hall, not desiring to egg Black on. He didn't need a fight right now. Unfortunately for him, Black was also heading there, so Severus sped up. Also unfortunately for him, Black wasn't quite ready to let this go. "Too scared to stand up for yourself, are you? Always running away from confrontations, you are! You must be the most cowardly person I've ever seen!" That struck a nerve, and Severus stilled. Then he turned about smirking, seeing a way to twist this current duel of barbs to his advantage.

     "Oh? Then you must not ever look in a mirror, for you are a far greater coward than I." Black's face reddened.

     "Am not! You're the true coward here, Snivellus!" Severus's smirk slid off his face, to be replaced by a glare.

     "You're more of one! You don't even try if your three cohorts aren't in attendance! All you dared to do was push me around, which by the way is cowardly because I am weaker than you!" His initial good cheer was gone now, a direct casualty of Black's volleyed accusation.

     "And you always run away!"

     "At least I have a reason, unlike you, which makes _you_ the greater coward!" Severus spat the word like it was a poison, and a gleam entered Black's eyes. Severus was immediately on guard.

     "How about we find out who's the bigger coward?"

     "And how do you propose we do such?" Severus queried warily, straightening to his full height.

     "We both keep daring each other until the other backs down."

     "Surprisingly intelligent idea...for you, that is. Nonetheless, I accept the arrangement, so long as rules are laid down."

     "And what do you figure should be a rule?" Black questioned, apparently unwillingly curious as to what an 'amoral Death Eater in-training' could find repulsive enough to ban.

     "First, there are to be no dares that would result in guaranteed expulsion, nothing that breaks laws, and no murder."

     "Don't forget no Dark magic!"

     "You imbecile, Dark magic _is_ illegal!"

     "I know that; I was just making sure you were aware. Fine?"

     "No. We neglected to mention no permanent injuries."

     "That should go without saying, Snivellus!" Black retorted, and Severus arched an eyebrow.

     "I still remember the time you shoved me in the lake and I nearly drowned. Don't go all 'implied' on me."

     "Fine now then?" Black questioned heatedly. They were beginning to descend to the first floor, and were rapidly running out of time to conclude the agreement.

     "Fine."

     "Fine!" Black shouted back at him.

     " _Fine_!" Severus spat, and Black grinned wickedly.

     "It's _on_ , Snivellus! First round, I give you a day to announce an open invitation to Hogsmeade to all the girls in the Great Hall!"

     "My my, Black. I didn't know you cared," Severus deadpanned, and Black's face reddened again.

     "I don't! I just want to see everyone laugh at you."

     "Well, in that case..." Severus trailed off just to see Black squirm. Five seconds later, one second more than he'd initially estimated it would take, Black snapped.

     "Just spit it out already, will you?"

     "Patience is a virtue you should learn, Black. I was trying to derive a task more moderate than the one that first came to mind, but now I find I don't care for your secrets after all. _I_ dare _you_ to admit to the whole school how you're actually gay. And you have to do it within the same time constraint as me," Severus smirked, and Black turned white, faltering mid-stride.

     "How did you-"

     "That's inconsequential," Snape waved a hand dismissively. "I know it, you know it, and soon so will everyone else."

     "Inconsequential! It is most certainly _not_ inconsequential!"

     "Say what you will. Of course, you _could_ just admit here and now that you're the bigger coward and save ourselves the time," Severus goaded, and resumed walking forward.

     "We should have made it eye-for-an-eye. You probably have _years_ of blackmail stored in your greasy head!" Black grumbled.

     "And you should implement some Slytherin strategies if you desire to catch up; not that you _will_ , of course. I make it a point not to inform anyone about the little nuances of my life." they were nearing the Great Hall.

     "You have one day," Black reminded him casually.

     " _You_ have one day," Severus replied snidely, and they both entered the Great Hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Severus is supposedly extremely smart, according to canon, so his vocabulary is going to reflect that. In his O.W.L. year, he was inventing spells and potions in a sixth year book. So either Snape is smart, or standards dropped between the 1970s and the 1990s, because you don't see any of Harry's classmates walking around altering potions or inventing spells. Not even Hermione, supposedly the brightest witch of her age.


	2. Queries about Significant Others

     The next morning, Severus stood up in the Great Hall. He had planned his act carefully, down to the very words he was to dictate and the tone in which he would deliver them. He spotted Black smirking at him, and he sneered back. Then he cast a lowly-powered _Sonorus_ on his voice.

     "Attention!" The Great Hall drifted surprisingly rapidly into silence, several people staring at the head table in confusion. Gradually, people began to realize that it was he who had called for their notice, and were now looking at him in various states ranging from careless drowsiness to outright shock that _he_ of all people was making an announcement in the Great Hall. "Black was too nervous to do this himself, so he foisted it off on me to do in his stead." Severus swallowed, and looked straight at Black, who appeared to be quite scandalized. "I believe his exact words were 'open invitation to Hogsmeade to all the girls in the Great Hall'." Several people laughed, mostly those who were actually properly awake, and Severus sat down.

     "Hey, that's not fair!" Black shouted at him, and the room, having only begun to recover its boisterous activities, fell silent again.

     "You should have been more specific then, Black. As the muggles say, 'All's fair in love and war', and this is most certainly war!" He called back.

* * *

     "What was that about, Padfoot?" Sirius shrugged.

     "We've decided to dare each other repeatedly until we figure out between us who the bigger coward is. It's my turn next."

     "What's the git making you do?" Remus asked curiously, and Sirius pulled a face.

     "Oh, come on, it's not like it could be _too_ bad. He hasn't any experience in pranking!" James tried to console him, but it didn't work at all.

     "He doesn't need it when he's got his slimy Slytherin ways! He's been gathering blackmail on everyone throughout his entire school years, and now I have to tell the whole school in the Great Hall about my...orientation." James grimaced, and Peter patted his back reassuringly.

     "Well, he twisted your dare to your inconvenience, so now you just have to twist his in your favor to humiliate him in turn," Remus stated matter-of-factly, and a grin slowly grew across Sirius's face.

     "Thanks. I think I know _just_ how to spin it for maximum impact now!"

     "Hey Padfoot, can we help you make dares?"

     "Definitely! He said all was fair in war, so I don't see why not. The four of us putting our heads together should come up with some wicked things!"

* * *

     At the Slytherin table, Severus was being pestered just as much, and not so much in a light he particularly enjoyed.

     "What's gotten into you, consorting with blood traitors? And a muggle quote, really?" Travers sneered.

     "Are you becoming friends with _them_ now?" Snape scoffed.

     "Hardly. Black and I disagreed rather violently over who was more cowardly, and conceded that a dare war was the best method in which to discern a legitimate resolution."

     "Can we help?" Nott queried.

     "I've been wanting to get one over on that bastard for years!" Regulus said excitedly.

     "Maybe, if you come up with anything good, I'll consider it." Severus was disinclined to ignore the gleam in Nott's eyes. If Matthias had his way, he would twist this contest into something Dark and malicious. "And before you suggest anything, neither anything illegal nor murder is permitted, nor are dares that would result in permanent injury or expulsion for either party." He'd have to listen to the arrogant sods, after all. Not that he'd use their suggestions anyways, but he did have to live with them. He glanced towards Zabini the seventh year, who was gazing at him stonily. Zabini was at the apex of the social ladder, and he called the shots. He was barely holding on to the bottom of the hierarchy as it was. If he lost his grip...he mentally shuddered. It was of the utmost importance he obtained their, and especially his, support in this as to not offend them.

* * *

     "Attention, my fellow students!" Severus looked up, smirking, as the arrogant tone permeated throughout the Great Hall.

    "Psst!" Severus looked over to see Regulus, even as the hall began to quiet down. "What's he doing?" He whispered to him excitedly, and Severus shook his head.

    "You'll see."

    "In extension to the events of this morning in which Snivellus rerouted nearly every female in the Great Hall to me, I have decided that desperate times call for desperate measures. I am coming out of the closet, so to speak, and I'd like to say I'm gay. Snivellus has forced my hand into revealing what he'd probably wanted me to all along, so to speak. Naturally for his own interests, the slimy git he is. As to what those interests are, I can only guess, but I figure I have a good clue." Black slowly turned to face Severus who tensed up, and then Black brought up a finger to point at him. "You fancy me, and you couldn't ask me out so long as I was still in the closet! And by the way, the answer is no!"

    "Fuck you, Black!" Snape snarled, pushing to his feet. "I have no interest in you or your ugly mug!"

    "Oh, do I sense some desire after all? It was only a guess, but..." Black smirked. A smattering of laughter broke out across the Hall, even as two furious blotches of red rose to Severus's face.

    "You sordid wretch!" Severus seethed, "I am straight, thank you very much!" Black crossed his arms.

    "But you still asked me to say it!"

    "Of course I did! It's your dare! And you can't just lie your way through it!"

    "All's fair in love and war, you said! I did the same thing you did!"

    "I didn't lie!" Severus shouted, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "So I _omitted_ a few things, but I didn't lie!"

     "Yeah, well, I only lied to get back at you for routing girls towards me this morning!"

     "So you admit you lied!" Severus said smugly, and Black flushed. "Good. I'm glad we got that out of the way. You've cleared things up for me, _and_ painted yourself as a cheat. Coward." Severus spat, and sat back down.

     "That wasn't cowardice!" Black shouted at him, but Severus just raised a hand and flipped him off. He heard several people laugh. _Round one to me_ , he thought, and smirked smugly. It didn't stick for long.

     "Snape, are you really gay?" Severus fixed Nott with a scathing glare that he was pleased to see made him lean away slightly, unsettled, and though he wouldn't ever admit it, perhaps the smallest modicum intimidated.

    "No, I am not. I have no interest in males; or females for that matter." He said shortly, and returned to his food. There was only one person he'd ever been interested in, and he'd already smothered his crush on her. After dinner, Severus quickly snatched the paper ball angled at his head out of the air. It was a note.

 _—Snivellus,_ Severus's lip curled. _I dare you to transfigure mice out of random things around McGonagall for two days starting Monday._  
_The braver one—_

     He smirked. He knew the perfect way to wind Black up this time. He already had his next dare prepared, and it was only coincidence that they correlated so well. He quickly cast a spell, and his response magically appeared on the bottom.

_—I dare you to complete a similar task with Slughorn, only using expensive things, and have them revert to their original forms while he's holding them. And why was this letter addressed from myself in the first place? I really should sue, I could use the galleons—_

     He banished it back towards Black, and not expecting it, he juggled it back and forth for a few moments before maintaining a firm grip on it. Pah, and he was supposed to be a chaser? Once Black had read it, they locked eyes and nodded stiffly. There was a determined fire in the other's eyes that spoke of his annoyance of his last two lines. Severus gave a crooked smirk and strode toward the dungeons. Life had its perks sometimes.


	3. Of Mice and Men-tally Aggravating Professors

     It was usually rather unfortunate that Gryffindors and Slytherins shared most of their classes, but that day did not follow the usual norms, as both groups were so busy sniggering that they paid next to no mind to inter-house tensions. Transfiguration was the first casualty of war. Five minutes into class, Minerva was more surprised than shocked when a transfigured mouse ran across her desk. After all, it _was_ the Transfiguration classroom, and it was a rather fine specimen despite them working on earrings and not mice. She picked it up by the tail and looked out over the class.    

     "Who transfigured this mouse?" She called out, and the entire class looked up. Most were puzzled, although one or two girls shrieked, to the other students' amusement, before covering their mouths in embarrassment. She herself was somewhat disappointed. Those two were _Gryffindors_ for Merlin's sake! She'd expect something like that from Hufflepuffs maybe, not her lions! She peeled her eyes for those acting differently, in hopes of finding the guilty party. She found a total of five suspects; James and his friends who seemed to be trying to hold back snickers with varying degrees of severity, and surprisingly Snape, from whom she was met with eyes which were glittering with an emotion she had never seen there before, and a face that was even blanker than usual. But Snape wasn't one for pranks, as far as she could recall. She _Finited_ the spell and was quite intrigued to find that nothing was left. Someone had come up with the unique idea to transfigure the very air molecules.    

     "Whoever did this, while it is a commendable piece of workmanship, please refrain from doing so again," she stated, and began prowling among the students to ensure nothing went awry, and to fix anything that happened to break, courtesy of the less skilled students. As usual, James and Snape tied for first, closely followed by Lily and Sirius, and then Remus. Then five minutes later, it happened again. But this go-around, there were two waltzing mice running in circles across the desks of the two girls who had shrieked earlier, and those earlier squeals were of no comparison to their screeches this time. Sighing and wincing at the volume, she vanished them. She looked around, and her eyes locked on James and his friends, as they were even closer to the verge of laughing now. Snape had drawn no closer. Her eyes narrowed. She would at first have jumped to the conclusion that the four of them had done it, but usually they had exceptional skill in keeping a straight face when they were involved. They normally only had the urge to laugh like this when they were either trying to make it acknowledged that they were the perpetrators (which they wouldn't right now with the degree she was aggravated), or they had seen who had really cast the spells.

     The third time, Minerva frowned. Three blind mice...that was a muggle story! In her mind, she was compiling a list of all students currently in the room with exposure to muggles. But by this point, nearly everyone was laughing except for Snape, who was acting as he normally would when things like this happened (irritation; thinning lips, revealing that he was more irritated than usual, and a minute shaking of his head, before continuing his exercise). It was too bad she couldn't augment anyone who had unusual reactions to her list due to everyone acting up, otherwise she would have caught the antagonist for sure. Everyone, that was, except for Snape. A devout follower of rules, he never seemed to create chaos like his classmates did, and for that she was thankful. All that day, mice continued to materialize around her, but only when there were people around. But scrutinizing all those in her vicinity, she never found one constant student nearby.

* * *

     Ten minutes into the Potions lecture (it not being a practical day), Slughorn's face lit up in delight and he scooped something of the ground.    

     "It must be my lucky day. Who would have thought-" his ramblings over whatever he was thinking was cut short by a cry of alarm as the abandoned bundle of Phoenix feathers morphed into a handful of goo, to the amusement of the class at large. Slughorn let go like it was on fire and cleaned his hand off, his face twisting in almost comical disgust. Twenty minutes later, he picked up a surprisingly nice-looking quill on his desk, only for it to turn into a rat brain a moment later. Slughorn continuously searched for his troublemaker, but he had the same problem as Minerva when it came to finding the victim. There just wasn't a constant!

* * *

     Dinner was a near-continuous cacophony of chortles. Sirius waved his wand inside his pocket quite frequently, and half of everything Slughorn went to eat turned out to be something else in disguise. He was constantly applying switching spells on the food and an assortment of transfigured disgusting things he had shoved into his bag. Over at the Slytherin table, Severus flicked his wand just slightly so under the table, and McGonagall cried out in both shock and dismay before she could censor herself as her food was suddenly crawling with mice. Albus did nothing to help either of them, merely casting a bubble around his own plate and the roast to ward off the pests. He found pranks entertaining, but Merlin help him if it was going to keep him from eating his favorite meat! Erstwhile, Filius patted a dejected Minerva's arm.    

     "Don't worry Minerva, Horace. You can eat that delightful goulash tomorrow night, and your prankster will have certainly lost interest by then, I'm sure." But of course, the pranks didn't stop. Every time Minerva went out into the halls, she found mice appearing quite literally out of thin air around her. And despite knowing it was likely to be a trick, Horace still went to grab interesting and/or valuable things, only for them to reveal themselves to be something as revolting as the former item was tempting.


	4. The Staff Meeting

     Things came to a head at the staff meeting after supper.  
     "I can't get anything done!" Minerva ranted. "Everything started when the sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins were in my class!"  
     "What a coincidence!" Horace cried. "That's when my troubles began too!" Albus entered, and Minerva and Horace wheeled towards him. "Albus, you have to do something about these pranks," Horace said vehemently.  
     "They're disruptive, and I'll not have them degrading my standard of learning!" Albus held up a hand, and they both quieted down.  
     "We'll deal with it when we will, but it will be after a few other items of business," Albus said calmly. Minerva nodded sharply, mollified for the moment, and sat down. Albus followed a moment later. Horace wiped his brow with a silken handkerchief, already sitting. "Is everyone here?" Albus then asked, likely just for formality’s sake, seeing as his eyes had already settled on one empty seat in particular.  
     "Waitin' fer Kettleburn to get here." Rubeus supplied, and they all fell into companionable silence. One professor sneezed, another coughed. They waited approximately two minutes after the staff meeting had been due to start, before the limping man finally, slowly entered. Once he took his seat, a process that took the most of another minute, Albus continued.  
     "Now that we are all here, we shall begin." They started out with what they were teaching that week (Sunday's staff meeting had been canceled due to the unprecedented flooding of the second-floor girl's lavatory) and moved on to what needed to be tweaked in each individual itinerary to ensure the information imparted to the students collaborated with each other's plans. Then they continued on to discuss students showing advanced knowledge and skill.  
     "Someone's showing skill alright," Minerva grumbled. Albus didn't respond, but his eyes and mouth gave away his mirth over the pranks.  
     "Miss Evans and Mister Snape are mopping the floor with everyone else in my class," Filius commented.  
     "Miss Evans is showing less and less knowledge and aptitude as time goes by," Horace added concernedly. "It's like separating the two is causing her to become less adept. But Severus has been doing the same in my class as he is in yours," he continued. "I daresay, he will certainly amount to something one day."  
     "Oh yes," Professor Bindy gushed, "he's the best in my class as well. He's a little on the shy side, or perhaps he's just lonely, but his work more than makes up for his antisocial tendencies. His ability to combine every subject into a dueling scenario is just unparalleled! I just graded an essay of his on twenty-six ways to not lose, and it was beautifully done. Potion grenades, conjuring items, human transfiguration, and even Divination by cracking them over the head with the crystal balls!" Several laughed, while Madam Mimosa, the Divination Professor, looked quite scandalized. "But his fourth point dealing with transfiguration is something I've never even given serious thought to. But all the same, transfiguring air molecules into bricks would serve greatly in a duel!" Minerva's breath caught in her throat, and she began coughing.  
     "Minerva, are you alright?" Albus asked, concerned.  
     "Alright?" Minerva spluttered, "Quite. Oh, I'll flay that boy! I know who the little sneak setting rats on me is now!" She seethed, and Horace perked up.  
     "Who? Who is it, my dear woman?"  
     "Severus Snape!" She hissed triumphantly, and Horace's eyes grew as wide as saucers.  
     "But–he can't be! Unless he knows wandless magic, he couldn't have been the one messing with my things! Both of his hands were busy in Potions in both stirring and cutting ingredients, and at the same time too, may I add." Horace sounded rather proud of his favorite student's accomplishments, and Minerva's brow furrowed. She opened her mouth to shoot something back about not favoring one's own house, but Albus quickly intervened.  
     "Maybe so, but he's still the prime suspect," Albus stated. "Perhaps James and his friends have rubbed off on him?" Almost as one, the rest of the staff groaned.  
     "I hope not. Severus is bloody well a genius, and he's creative to boot. Think of what Horace has said he's capable of over the last few years! He got in trouble last year for striking James Potter with a cutting curse of his own invention, and making a spell is difficult to do! There's evidence that he's made more spells than that, too, and as early on as his Third year." Minerva growled.  
     "Our only saving grace before was that while the four Gryffindor pranksters in residence have strong magical reserves to draw on, they are not particularly smart or creative." Madam Mimosa moaned.   
     "To have a prankster that possesses all three attributes would be a right nightmare." Horace wiped his brow again, and several professors were nodding vehemently at their impassioned speech.  
     "Minerva, don't you believe, though, that compared to the path Severus was taking, this is a better one?"  
     "And what has you so certain that he has changed paths, Albus?"  
     "Primarily, people going down such a path try to be noticed as little as possible. All Severus does is show his skills off in class and reveal his prowess in the hallways. Possibly, he has never truly wanted the former path at all, whatever he appears to desire." Minerva slowly nodded.  
     "Nonetheless, I will be approaching him tomorrow about it."  
     "I would expect nothing less from you, Minerva."


	5. Filius and Quidditch

     Walking into the great hall for breakfast, as Severus passed by Black, he dropped a note on the table next to his goblet. Ten seconds and twelve feet later, he heard him snort quite noisily with laughter. Severus himself smiled wryly. After all, it was something he himself had always wanted to see. That morning they both had charms. About six minutes into Flitwick’s class, the pile of books he was standing on suddenly disappeared, to reappear in a seldom-sought–out corner of the bookshelving in the back. Flitwick toppled out of the air, but he wasn’t a world-class dueler for nothing. He cast a cushioning charm on the ground, but it proved unnecessary as he landed on his feet. Flitwick looked disgruntled and glanced at both the marauders, and to his surprise, Severus, before conjuring new books to stand upon. After the second time, he levitated himself and finished his lecture is that state. He was not spared at either lunch or dinner either, and the glances thrown at him by Minerva was enough to make his lips thin.

     "So, how did your meeting with our newest wayward student go?" Several professors sat to attention to listen in, as Minerva grimaced.

     "Not the news I wanted to hear."

     "Ah, how bad could it be?" Filius asked, and Minerva gave an exasperated sigh.

     "Well…

 

_Two Hours Previous:_

_"Mr. Snape, can you stay back?" It was the end of Transfiguration, which happened to be as far away from Herbology as one could get and be in a current classroom. Usually, he only had moments to spare as it was. Nonetheless, he stayed back._

_"Yes_ , _Professor?" The moment the last student was gone, she began._

_"Mr_. _Snape, you aren’t about to become a prankster as well, are you? Don’t give me that look, Professor Bindy told me about your essay. I know it was you.: Severus dropped his ‘innocent look’._

_"I apologize,_ _Professor. I would swear that it won’t happen again, but I don’t make promises I may not be able to maintain."_

_"And why can you not promise anything?"_

_"It was a dare, Professor, that provoked me into pranking you." Oh. So he wasn’t becoming a prankster, in the_ strictest _sense. The others would be glad._

_"By whom?"_

_"Black."_

_"Regulus Black?" Severus looked back up, having bowed his head when apologizing._

_"Sirius Black." Minerva’s eyebrows shot up, and Severus hastened to explain further. "We are currently...resolving a difference. We‘re attempting to discern who is more of a coward. We are taking turns daring each other until one of us balks. The loser is labeled as coward." She slowly nodded._

_"Are there any limits?"_

_"As far as agreed on, no murder, nothing illegal, and nothing in an attempt to get the other expelled."_

_"And even if you had to jump off the roof?" A little color drained from his face._

_"Then I would need to learn some cushioning spells, as everything else is fair game." Minerva pursed her lips. The responsible part of her wanted to forbid the game from advancing, but the majority of her was clamoring to watch, as it could serve as entertaining. Not to mention, the likelihood that Snape would win was infinitesimal. So she nodded anyways._

_"Well, I’ll be taking twenty points from Slytherin for your prank. It disrupted my class, and my meals, which is unacceptable." Severus nodded, having expected such retribution. "You’re lucky it’s not detention, but this was only your first prank and I feel like being lenient with you. On the other hand, fifteen points for your advanced transfiguration skills and ten for the application of your unique idea. In theory, not many would have the skill, knowledge, or the raw power to change molecular particles into something completely different. In fact, the only thing more difficult is to change atoms, which no one has succeeded in as of yet. And I must say, I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with for Black to do. Now, which class are you heading off to?"_

_"Herbology, Professor." She filled out a slip of tartan parchment quickly, before passing it to him._

_:End of Flashback_

 

      Filius slowly let his head fall to the table.

     "Oh crap! We’re going to have an inter-house battle before long, just you watch." Minerva sighed. She hadn’t thought of that, but now that she did, she found that she was worried about that too.

* * *

     Severus kept an eye peeled, but it appeared that Black was taking his precious time, evidently enjoying keeping him in suspense. He was pranked once after dinner on Thursday, several water balloons full of chicken grease falling on his head. Fortunately, luck was on his side and he succeeded in blocking all but the first. On the other hand, it made his shoes more slippery than usual (they were so old, they had no traction), and he slipped more than once on his way to Potions. However, it wasn’t until Friday between Potions and Defense that he received his next dare.

     "Sni-Snivellus!" Black was running towards him from the other end of the corridor, trying to catch up to him. Severus refused to slow from his brisk pace, so Black was forced to continue running after him.

     "Hey! No running in the halls!" One prefect shouted, but Black paid him no heed. He caught up to him just outside the Defense classroom, and bent double to try and catch his breath.

     "I—dare you—to support Gryffindor—in the match tomorrow!" Severus paled, even as Black straightened up, having sufficiently recovered.

     "Are you out of your bloody mind, Black? That’s-that’s social suicide!" Severus growled in outrage and a tone that he was not about to investigate deeper into what it was, and Black snorted.

     "You, Snivellus, have no social _to_ kill." Severus’ eyebrow shot up.

     "And whose fault would _that_ be?" He queried, and crossed his arms. "Nonetheless, I’ll do it. It’s not like I could _lose_ any credibility, and the only risk is that to my own existence." Black grinned.

     "Good." Black threw something red and gold at his face, and Severus caught the tail end of it before it hit the ground. It was a scarf, and by the way it reeked, he concluded that it was Black’s scarf. His nose wrinkled in disgust.

     "Do you ever wash _anything_?" He sneered. _Tergeo_. Black blinked, then snickered.

     "Odd that you’d care about wearing clean things when you don’t even care about the grease and muck constantly floating around your head. I bet if I bring a flame close enough, you’d catch like a torch!" Black pulled out his wand and conjured the beginnings of a flame, but Severus was spared the necessity of defending himself by Professor Bindy opening the door.

     "All of you, come in, come in!" And her eyes settled on Black, and narrowed. "Put that flame away, boy! Haven’t your parents ever told you not to play with fire? And so close to Severus too; he could catch fire, you know!" Several people snickered as he passed them, and Black guffawed.

     "Told you!" Severus’ face flushed, and he quickly shoved the scarf out of sight.

* * *

     And that was how Severus found himself walking towards the Quidditch stands the morning of the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match—and in extension cheering for the wrong team. He ensured he was sitting near the back, so he wouldn’t be stared at, and pulled out his most recent book. It was a delightful read, and it was a shame when the whistle blew. Anything past that point was mind-numbingly simple and therefore explicitly boring; cheer when those around you did, and don’t snicker when the Gryffindor team got struck by bludgers. In fact, nothing interesting happened at all, until the commentator got bored.

     "Potter has the quaffle, now Black, now Allen has it. Longbottom hits a bludger at Rosier, it misses and swings near the Gryffindor spectators…GOOD MERLIN!" Severus nearly jumped out of his skin, as did a numerous amount of others, as there was nothing spectacular occurring. "TAKE A LOOK IN THE GRYFFINDOR STANDS, THERE’S A SLYTHERIN THERE! AND IT’S _SNAPE_!" People all over the stadium turned towards him, and Severus sank down lower in his seat.

* * *

     After the match was over, he was one of the first to depart, and subsequently easy for Black to discover as he was far ahead of the crowd.

     "So, how was it?"

     "One of the most boring hours of my life," he drawled, amassing immense pleasure at seeing his face fall, "excepting the ten minutes where people gawked at me like I was a zoo creature instead of the game. That was just irritating. Now, here’s your scarf-" he ripped it off his neck and flung it in his face, "-and stop following me around like a _dog_ before even more people jump to the faulty conclusion that we’re friends, or even worse," he shuddered for dramatic effect, " _dating_." Black’s face paled.

     "How did you know about-" Severus snorted, and waved his hand dismissively.

     "Inconsequential. Now, no worries; I have no drive nor reason to tell anyone—yet. Rather, I want you to teach me."

     "Is that your dare?" Black’s eyes lit up, and Severus smirked, not letting on that he hadn't initially planned this out at all further than knowing the desired conclusion.

     "It can be. I was intending to blackmail you into doing with that information, but I acknowledged that this was a better method." There was a veritable fire in Black’s eyes that made him uneasy, but before Severus had more than so much as entertained the idea of rescinding his demand, Black’s grin reached new levels of creepiness and turned shark-like.

     "Deal."


End file.
